16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
"So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have." Whenever I see the word "so" or "therefore" in Scripture, I know to look just before it. (It's a cause and effect format of writing, and it happens to be what I'm teaching my fifth graders right now.) Peter says "so" here after reminding us to continue to live like Christ because if we do these things, we will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom -- there will be rewards if we do this! It's certainly not wrong to think about the rewards ahead, because they are written about multiple times in the Bible and Jesus wants us to be aware of them. Because of these rewards and what's to come, Peter wants to remind us of these things he's about to say.
"I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things." I appreciate that Peter says he will keep reminding the people, even though they are now practicing the truth he is teaching. It is right to refresh our memories of even the most basic principles of Christianity. I can get so swept away in the daily-ness of my life, and sometimes I just need to remember even the foundation: Christ came to this earth, lived a sinless life, and then died for me. I need to be reminded of that! I may be practicing the truth well today, but give me a few hours and see how I'm doing tomorrow. I sure do hope that, as my Aunt Kathy said to me yesterday, "the more time I spend in the delightful presence of the God who loves me so joyously, the less desire I will have to sin, to drift away," and that "it is a relief, a freedom, not to have to work so hard, except to keep moving closer to the Source of Life." So true! I love that! I pray that that is the general direction of my life every day. And on the days that it is not, Peter knows we will need reminding. He is concerned here because he knows he will be dying soon (perhaps from persecution or failing health?), and he wants to make sure these principals are rooted in the hearts of these people he's loved. I so want to have that love and concern for the people in my life, don't you? Are we helping those around to really be rooted in this stuff in case we're not here tomorrow?
"We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain." In an effort to give them some proof perhaps when they face times of doubt, knowing that the road ahead will not necessarily be easy for them, he assures them that these are not just "cleverly invented stories." Have you ever wondered that? Are these just stories -- people being raised from the dead, the miraculous appearance of enough fish to feed thousands, and blind people being able to see? They can certainly sound impossible, but here Peter assures us that he himself was an eyewitness to all of this. Not only did he see Jesus perform miracles, but he also heard God the Father affirm that Jesus is His Son! And so he spurs us on to continue, saying, this is true! You are not being fooled!
19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." What about the prophecies -- they are certainly just coincidences, right? He knows we all would ask that. Peter is saying that the prophecies are, first of all, important, and we should pay attention to them because they will build up our faith rather than cause doubts. Study them and you will see! The prophecies from thousands of years ago are continuing to come true -- and many of them were about the life of Jesus Christ! Peter has seen the prophecies be fulfilled in his life with Jesus. He also reminds us that prophecy is not just merely the words of a man, but rather that God has used men as a tool to interpret His words so that we might have them. The Holy Spirit was with them in that process, and for you thinkers, there is proof of this even in the numbers. Think about these things:
- There are 2,000 prophecies, including some 300 prophecies and implications about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
- There are no prophetic failures.
- While there are both obvious and subtle prophecies, most are very detailed and specific.
- No other religion has specific, repeated, and unfailing fulfillment of predictions many years in advance of contingent events over which the predictor had no control.
- Studies of psychics show only around 8% of other religions' predictions come true and virtually all of these can be attributed to chance and a general knowledge of circumstances.
- Mathematicians have calculated the odds of Jesus fulfilling only 8 of the Messianic prophecies as 1 out of 1017 (a 1 followed by 17 zeros). This is equivalent to covering the entire state of Texas with silver dollars 2 feet deep, marking one of them, mixing them all up and having a blind-folded person select the marked one at random the first time. For more on this, see What Are The Odds?
- Fulfilled prophecy is powerful evidence that the Bible is divine rather than human in origin.
Christ is the most powerful king who ever existed, and He will reign completely over this earth one day, and you, dear one, are His child. He came and did all of this, this life on earth, for you because of His unfailing love for you. You are not being fooled.
Now, if all that doesn't make you walk a little taller today, I don't know what will!
This IS the way. Let's walk in it.
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